Half the United States under increased threat of earthquakes, warns USGS

According to the most recent federal earthquake map from the U.S. Geologic Survey (USGS), roughly half of the United States is at a higher risk of quakes than previously thought.

The actual risk is probably even higher, as the map does not take into account increased risk due to oil and gas extraction techniques such as hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) and carbon dioxide injection.

The federal report, published July 17, is the first update to the earthquake map since 2008. It takes into account new advances in data analysis, modeling technology and sensing instruments, and includes data gathered from the 2011 earthquakes in Virginia and Japan.